Gay, lesbian community fights appointment to Supreme Court
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MK Prof. Uzi Even
Prominent members of the gay community have recently joined the fight against the expected appointment of Prof. Ruth Gavison to the Supreme Court because of her position on certain issues of civil rights.
"To the gay community, Gavison's declared opinions represent a clear and present danger to the areas in which, with much work, partial equality has been obtained for men and women in the community," stated a letter from a number of public figures in the homosexual and lesbian community to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni.
Signatories to the letter included Tel Aviv city council member and chairman of the municipal human rights council Itai Pinkas,
"Despite her education and academic status, the candidacy of Prof. Gavison arouses enormous suspicion among us," the letter stated. "We ask you to reconsider her candidacy and to select a more suitable person, someone who in addition to being an experienced and knowledgeable jurist is also not a hypocrite."
The letter notes Gavison's willingness, expressed in a convention she co-drafted, to end the practice of recognizing common-law spouses "in the name of the secular public" and to instead allow civil marriages - but only for heterosexual couples.
"Gavison initiated the convention that proposes secular people give up the institution of common-law marriages and almost all of the rights the gay community has gained over the years, and in parallel the [gay] community would be excluded from civil marriages. That would eliminate the institution of common-law marriage that offered us some protection while blocking us from civil marriage."
Members of the homosexual and lesbian community also mentioned a mock trial at a law school several years ago in which Gavison ruled against a lesbian couple that sought to adopt the child of one of the women.
They also criticized Gavison's support for an amendment to the citizenship law prohibiting family unification between Palestinians and Israeli citizens, noting it posed a particular hardship for homosexuals and lesbians because of attitudes toward gays in the Palestinian community.
"As president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the opinions Gavison has expressed are very problematic, and it's even worse when it comes to someone who, if she is in the Supreme Court, will be in the slot reserved for someone who supports human rights, is a woman and secular," Pinkas said.
"From our point of view, she is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I don't know how aware Livni and others are of that aspect of the problematic nature of the appointment," Pinkas continued. "Livni expressed support for equal civil rights for the homosexual-lesbian community, it's a relevant issue for her, and I believe it will be a factor in her decision-making."
"I am angry at Gavison for the same reason I would be angry at a Jew who starts writing anti-Semitic commentaries," Prof. Uzi Even said. "Gavison acts consciously against our interests and in my opinion someone who does that does not belong in the Supreme Court."
According to journalist Itzik Yosha, another prominent member of the community, "The revolution in homosexual and lesbian rights stemmed, among other things, from the fact that the Supreme Court was more enlightened and advanced than the legislative body. In her views, Gavison has proved she opposes this result."
The Justice Ministry confirmed it had received the letter but refused to comment on its contents.